Kentucky Basketball Previews Georgetown College
UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS & PUBLIC RELATIONS
MEN’S BASKETBALL
GEORGETOWN COLLEGE at UK PREGAME MEDIA
OCT. 25, 2019
JOE CRAFT CENTER – LEXINGTON, KY.
John Calipari
On the starting lineup …
“Don’t know yet. We’ve still got a couple of days, and really it doesn’t matter. I’m trying different combinations now in practice. I’ll tell you who has really helped is Ben Jordan, because now Keion (Brooks Jr.) can get work at three and EJ (Montgomery) gets to go against Nate (Sestina), which helps them. And Ben gets to beat up on Nick (Richards). So, Keion can be four some too to stretch the court. I had he and Kahlil (Whitney) on the court together the other day and they looked good with Nick. That lineup looked good. Having Tyrese (Maxey) and Ashton (Hagans) together has looked good. Immanuel (Quickley) has played well. We’re just trying different things. Really, half of the practice is them developing habits, which takes away from the team stuff that we – my staff’s all over me: ‘We still gotta do this … this … this.’ I said, ‘Look, until they get these habits down it doesn’t matter.’ “
On Jordan’s matchup with Nick Richards and if he was brought in to be physical with Richards …
“Not really. He’s trying to figure out how to play. It was funny – he said to me yesterday – I had them come up in the office and after the practice I said, ‘How much did Ben help us today?’ The guys went crazy. He said – I’m probably breaking his confidence, but it’s OK – he said, ‘I went home and we had people crying, and there were T-shirts for me. I’m like, what? ‘Coach, I was a really good pitcher. Like I’m an All-American in baseball and no one has said anything and I go back with this and said, ‘I’m just one of the guys on the team. And they’re doing jerseys for me.’ He laughed. My hope is he benefits by this whole experience. Nick and I talked, Mingione, yesterday. I gave him (Jordan) one of the books that I’m giving the guys to read. The Stillness (is the Key) book (by Ryan Holiday) and I think – I told him, ‘I think it’ll be great for you, being a pitcher and being on that mound by yourself.’ So, I’m hoping this helps him. Obviously he’s helping us.”
On if he’d be in favor of a closed scrimmage instead of two exhibition games …
“There’s two things that I’m trying to push in college basketball: One of them is playing in August and making it like spring football. Spending 10 days, two weeks and let each of us get five or six days during that period of time to practice and maybe play games and play games against each other like we’re doing in these first scrimmages, but sell them and let them be on TV. Do them on weekends so you’re not missing class. Whoever travels, their expenses are paid for by the other team. Now you have content for August for the SEC Network and now all of the other Power Fives have networks. I think on a lot of fronts it would be good. The issue for us of doing that scrimmage is solely money. I’d like to scrimmage versus having two exhibitions. But I also have the feel of what the athletic department needs and if they ever said, ‘Hey, we’re good because we have an extra home game and if you want to do it we would do it.’ “
On how a Power Five team wouldn’t have the funds to be able to do away with an exhibition game …
“It becomes money that is budgeted – these many home games, this many exhibitions and it’s budgeted. In that setting, and I’ll just throw a number, let’s say it’s a million dollars. Well, it’s coming from something. So, is it coming from swimming? Is it coming from the volleyball team? Where is it coming from? Baseball? It’s coming from something. I get it and if we weren’t hurting anything to go play an exhibition game – most teams don’t make what we do on a home game. They may have a building where they make very little on a home game, where that’s not the case with us.”
On recognizing toughness …
“Well, toughness is not just pushing and shoving. It’s not what your body looks like. Toughness is a mental toughness of you can be pushed and you don’t cave in. That toughness. A toughness of playing somebody before they catch the ball because you’re alert and you’re in it even though you’re tired. How about playing before you catch the ball? Knowing where your teammates are. Being alert mentally. It’s as much mental toughness as it is physical. Physical is part of it. If you are standing up and not in a stance, you can’t be physically tough here. You’ll get pushed around. So, all of the things that – like last year with Reid (Travis) and PJ (Washington), there was a toughness and a mental toughness that they had. We’re expecting EJ and Nick and Nate to do the same things, and Keion. The best thing that’s happened to Keion is that he’s working out with the big guys almost exclusively, especially pre-practice and getting like knocked around and having to figure out like how do I hold my own? It doesn’t mean he pushes back. It means you leverage. You’ve gotta play before the catch, so all of those toughness – are you tough enough to get free when the man is ready to throw you the ball? Are you tough enough under pressure to deliver a ball to a wing? Are you tough enough? Are you tough enough going to the basket (that) when you get touched, does the ball come loose? Or do you hold the ball as you get pinned a little bit and grabbed and still make a layup? Are you tough enough that when there is contact to still make a basket when they’re not going to make a call because they’re going to say verticality? Or are you not tough enough? I can go on and on, but my question was with this team are we going to have it? On the ball, shot-blocking, length – they’re going to miss shots. Are we tough enough to go get balls? Are we tough enough to mix it up? Are we tough enough to catch it in the post with two hands and hold our position? Or you’re not tough enough. In the post you can face, or when your man starts to run around you – you can move to keep them behind you or can go like this (gestures to the ground) and say, ‘Throw it right here.’ That’s toughness. Holding positions. Catching balls with two hands. A shot goes up, do you know what the tough thing to do is? Go find somebody and do it body-to-body. Hit somebody. You know what the not-so-tough thing to do is? The shot goes up and I run under the rim. Well, why would you do that? Well, you tell me what’s easier? Hitting this guy and fighting and going and getting the ball or just running under the basket and maybe just getting the one that goes under the net. I mean, it’s all stuff that we’re doing. An NBA exec came in yesterday and said – two days ago – and said, ‘Your practices have been more aggressive and physically tougher than other practices I’ve seen.’ And I said, ‘We’ve got no choice. I’m trying to figure this out.’ Well, what’s the ball you’re juggling? Your nine scholarship players go ahead let two get hurt. You can’t even have a warmup line. So, we’re juggling balls but we’re trying to say let’s keep this to the forefront.”
On who the toughest guy is on the team right now that he will hold up as an example to the others …
“We don’t know. It will develop. My question – and I forgot I had the same question last year – where do you get a basket? Like last year, where do you get a basket? Now all of you knew in November that Tyler Herro was going to be this good [sarcastic]. Well, none of us knew. I didn’t either. We didn’t know Keldon (Johnson) would be that aggressive. We didn’t know that PJ until January was going to do what he did. We knew that Reid was physically strong, but we had to make him quicker to the ball and quicker to rebound and less gathering and more quickness. We did not know. To be honest, right now I don’t know with this team. If we really needed a basket right now, where do we go? I don’t know. But that will—[Reporter interjects: It’s not Tyrese?] No. It’s not right now. But the great thing for all of us and how we do this, they will tell us who it is. They will tell us. Tyrese is doing fine. Now, I’m on him hard. It’s a different game when possession matter more than ever in your entire life. And the reason possessions don’t matter as much as a high school player is because you’re going to have 30 of them one way or another whether you’re bad, good, indifferent. I’m the best player and I’m getting 30 looks. I’m getting 25 shots. Well now, every possession matters a little bit more. A pass to the wing with pressure on you matters more. The open jump shot, you’re not getting 25. You’re going to get eight, nine, 10. They matter more. So all that kind of stuff is one of those habits that we’ve got to teach these young kids. And it’s not just him. Kahlil is the same way. So is Johnny (Juzang). So is Keion. They’re all in the same boat.”
On if there is a balance with someone like Maxey staying free and loose and not feeling the pressure with every possession matters …
“Well, you want them to feel pressure, especially now to see how he responds. And so some of it will be me creating pressure to see how he responds. And then kind of being sarcastic at times when he does not respond to make him respond to that. But I’m doing it with Kahlil; I’m doing the same thing. I’m trying to bring pressure to the practice and them personally and how they’re playing. But I think they’re responding great. I mean, Immanuel Quickley – Immanuel laughs now, but he went through it last year. It was really hard for him. Now you’re seeing a different guy out there and how he plays and how he responds to things.”
On if the change in the 3-point line has had any impact …
“We’re stepping on it a lot more. I see that. I’m just leaving it go right now. I’m not emphasizing it. But my guess since they moved it back – how much? A foot? Fourteen inches? Fifteen inches? My guess is it will come down a percentage or two. I don’t think it’s going to come down 10. But let me say this: If it goes up, then the balls got smaller. Something happened. So my guess would be is it’s going to go down a little bit.”
On if the extended 3-point line is opening up things offensively …
“I don’t think so. I mean, you know, for the fantasy camp we put down the 4-point line. It never came into play until the semifinals and a guy, down four with 15 seconds, made a 4-pointer. The coach didn’t even know. He was like, ‘Why would you take that?’ And the guy says, ‘Because it was a 4-pointer.’ He says, ‘What 4-pointer?’ He didn’t even know. He made it. What did the other team do? Now it’s 15 seconds to go, they think they’re down one because (they thought) it was a 3. It was a 4. They foul and the kid misses the free throw and they come down and get fouled and win the game – the team that was down four. I think we should go with a 4-point play. I like the 4-point play. It was exciting. I was just sitting there not knowing and screaming and yelling and it was a 30-footer at the end that I thought was in coming the other way that was going to end the game.”
UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS & PR
MEN’S BASKETBALL
GEORGETOWN COLLEGE at UK PREGAME MEDIA
OCT. 25, 2019
JOE CRAFT CENTER – LEXINGTON, KY.
Kentucky Players
#12, Keion Brooks Jr., Fr., F
On facing another team …
“I’m excited. We’ve been going at each other’s necks for about almost two months now. I’m just excited to finally get out and all play together and play against somebody else.”
On what they want to show Sunday …
“We just want to show that we’re tough. Coach believes that could be the only thing standing in our way from doing something special. We just want to show our toughness and how we go out and compete, especially on the defensive end taking what we do in our drills in practice and translate it into 5-on-5 against somebody else.”
On whether he can provide some of that toughness …
“Yeah, for sure. I might not look it, but I’m going to play hard and I’m going to go out and compete every possession. That’s what the coaches expect from me. That’s what my teammates expect from me. So I’m going to go out and make sure I play hard every possession.”
On what he means when he says he might not look like a player who can provide toughness …
“You can look at me and tell I’m a skinny kid. I put on some weight, but at the same time I just don’t – I don’t look like a bruiser, do I? But I’m going to go out and play hard and compete every time down.”
On how he is splitting his time in practice between the post and the perimeter …
“Just wherever he (Coach Cal) wants me at during that practice at a particular time. He wants me to challenge EJ (Montgomery) and also have EJ challenge me on both ends, then when I flip to the three I’m going against Kahlil (Whitney) a lot of the time. I think it’s good for me being able to bang down low with EJ and him making me better and I’m pushing him as well. Also, with playing the three, me and Kahlil and our versality (are) making it hard for each other every time down.”
On how toughness will show itself …
“We’re just going to take what we’ve done in practice – our box-out drills, our closing out, our diving for loose balls – and just try to emulate that and put it into the game.”
On how his game has improved at UK …
“I’m definitely a lot faster with the ball off the catch. In high school I was able to hold the ball for forever and take my time at my size and do what I wanted to do with it. Now I have to be ready to think on the fly and overall think faster on the court.”
On how much Ben Jordan has helped in practice …
“It makes a big difference. He’s helping us. He’s making us better. Being able to be physical with Nick (Richards) some and also letting EJ play the four and me play the three, which I am. It’s been great having him there. He’s been a good help.”
On learning a baseball player was joining the team …
“That was the surprising part, that a pitcher – I’ve never seen a pitcher that was 6-9 and that big and strong. He’s actually pretty athletic too, so it was a surprise to me to see that a baseball player was that big and athletic.”
#4, Nick Richards, Jr., F
On getting to play someone else …
“It’s going to be very exciting even though it’s just a practice game. Obviously we’re going to try to win, but this is a game we can use to see what our strengths are, what are weaknesses are and where we’ve got to get better.”
On what he knows about Georgetown College …
“Right now, I don’t really know much about them. We’re going to watch film on them today to see what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are. Figure out how we’re going to approach playing a team like this. Right now, we’re just going to listen to our coaches and figure out a strategy.”
On what he wants to see from his team on Sunday …
“I just want to see how hard we play as a team. As a team, we just want to show how connected we are and how our chemistry has gotten better since the summertime until now.”
On what he takes from the Blue-White Game into this weekend …
“The Blue-White Game was pretty hard for all of us. Everybody played 40 minutes, that was a big challenge for us. We, as a team, saw it as a way for us to improve our game. We watched film on it. We just saw a lot of stuff that we did wrong. We’ve got to improve on the defensive end and try to get better at that.”
On how long it takes for the team to get in condition …
“Every day in practice, we start off with conditioning, we finish with conditioning, so that plays a major factor into it. That helps a lot.”
On his definition of toughness …
“It’s definitely more than physical strength. Just playing through how tired you are during the game. Fight through the fatigue and mentally focus on how to get a task done.”
On how practice has changed since the addition of Ben Jordan …
“For the bigs, it’s good because Ben is not really like, he’s been playing basketball since he was a kid, so he knows how to play. He’s pretty strong, he’s another decent sized guy to challenge us on box outs, rebounding, getting deep post position, he’s actually helping us in practice.”
On what he thought when he heard the team was adding a pitcher from the baseball team …
“I know some of the pitchers. I didn’t expect it to be him. Seeing him walk inside the gym and seeing a big body like that, it’s just a good challenge for us to take on.”
On what his ‘welcome to Kentucky’ moment was …
“It would probably be my first Big Blue Madness, when all the fans came out and you didn’t see anyone in their seats, you just saw a whole crowd just screaming your name and welcoming you to Kentucky.”
